On the sidelines of the training ground, Rosell and Enrique were chatting.
"Gaurdiola has left. Next season, Villanova will take over the team, but his health isn't great. He might not last long," Rosell casually mentioned to the youth team coach Enrique, casting his gaze over the young players on the training ground.
It's a tradition for Barcelona to promote talents and coaches from the youth academy. As the head coach of Barcelona's youth team, Enrique has a good chance of becoming a coach for the first team.
Upon hearing this, Enrique's eyes lit up with excitement. Coaching such a top-tier team like Barcelona is a dream come true for a young coach like him.
Especially for coaches like him with a strong connection to Barcelona, going to coach other teams may not yield good results. Enrique had left Barcelona before but didn't have a successful coaching stint in Serie A.
After a failed season with Roma, he was fired and had to return to Barcelona. Just as he returned, Guardiola resigned, giving Enrique hope.
He learned that the club planned to choose between him and Martino as the club's head coach. Villanova is destined to be an interim coach and won't last long in the head coach position.
So, as long as he can defeat Martino, the position of Barcelona head coach will be his. And to win against Martino, getting the support of the club president is crucial.
"Mr. President, rest assured, I will do my best to cooperate with your work," Enrique quickly responded, expressing his loyalty to Rosell.
For him, as long as he can coach Barcelona for a few years and achieve some impressive results, he will have a prestigious coaching resume, which will greatly help him in his future job search.
If he can lead Barcelona to win the Champions League, he might even surpass Guardiola and become the new legend among young coaches!
With this in mind, Enrique's gaze towards Rosell became eager.
"Well, very good, Luis. I knew I didn't misjudge you!" Rosell nodded satisfactorily, then casually instructed, "I heard there's a young player here in the academy who has a close relationship with Guardiola. Is that true?"
Enrique nodded quickly and pointed to Lin Quan, who was training on the field, and replied, "Yes, the young player wearing number four, he's Guardiola's protege!"
"Oh, I see," Rosell nodded lightly and ordered nonchalantly, "Since Guardiola is no longer with the club, let's get rid of the players who got in through his connections. Barcelona doesn't need such players with connections!"
Enrique opened his mouth, seeming like he wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
Although he really wanted to speak up for Lin Quan, the other party was indeed talented and not a player who got in through connections.
With his skills, there's no doubt he can establish himself in Barcelona's youth team.
However, the club president doesn't like him, or more precisely, the president doesn't like Guardiola. And since he has a father-son relationship with Guardiola, it's not surprising that he's being affected as well.
"Yes, President, I know what to do!" Enrique nodded, agreeing to handle the matter.
"Handle it discreetly. I don't want any gossip!" Rosell patted his shoulder and left after dropping these words.
Enrique couldn't help but curse inwardly as he watched Rosell leave. Guardiola had just left, and now the club wanted to get rid of his protege. If this matter leaked out, it would have a very negative impact.
As the one orchestrating this, if he didn't handle it well, he might end up taking the blame.
So, how could he fulfill the task assigned by the club president without getting blamed?
He quickly came up with a solution!
He would find a weaker team to loan out Lin Quan, allowing him to play for the first team.
As long as he couldn't establish himself in the first team, Barcelona could terminate his contract.
No one could say anything then. After all, if he couldn't establish himself even in a small team, how could he possibly do it in a top-tier club like Barcelona?
This way, even if he got rid of him, he wouldn't be blamed.
Thinking of this, Enrique couldn't help but feel proud of his cleverness.
"Just as I expected!"
So he waved to his assistant coach, Jordi Blanco, and said to him:
"Blanco, where are the loan applications from other teams?"
"They're in your office!"
"Alright, you stay here, I'll be right back!"
Enrique left after saying that.
As he turned to leave, Lin Quan completed a brilliant breakthrough on the sideline.
Since he was put on the substitute side, Lin Quan faced the defense lineup of the youth team's main players.
They had all played together before, so the youth team players knew Lin Quan's characteristics well.
He wasn't physically strong and lacked defensive abilities.
So when defending against him, they could actively press him, directly using physical confrontation to block his progress or even intercept the ball.
In the past, when faced with such situations, Lin Quan would immediately pass the ball, reducing his time in possession and not giving the opponent a chance to physically confront him.
He was a playmaking midfielder, as long as he had excellent passing and control skills, outstanding awareness, and a certain intercepting ability, it would be enough.
Expecting him to breakthrough like a winger was unrealistic.
But today, when he received a pass from a teammate, he almost subconsciously flicked the ball with the outside of his foot and simultaneously lowered his right shoulder, making a movement as if he were going to break through from the right sideline.
Rafinha, who was defending him, was stunned because this was a common move used by wingers when breaking through from the outside.
Was he trying to get past him?
He immediately stopped and moved laterally, intending to block his position and force him out of bounds.
But as soon as he made this move, Lin Quan immediately cut the ball, and the ball slid past his right side.
Because the ball was right next to his right foot, Rafinha almost instinctively stretched out his foot, trying to intercept the ball.
But he forgot that his body was moving laterally at this time. As his right foot lifted, his body twisted like a pretzel, and with a snap, he fell to the ground.
And Lin Quan, along with the ball, smoothly completed the breakthrough on the sideline.
Wow!
When Lin Quan shook off Rafinha, all the players on the field, including the coaches on the sidelines, were stunned.
They all had a feeling in their minds:
Why does Lin Quan's style of play feel just like Messi's?